Hindered By Tradition
Some people follow tradition more than they follow God's commands.(Matthew 15:3) Jesus warned the religious people of His day about this, and we do well to heed His warning, too. It is easy to stick with the traditional ways of doing things and miss God's Word. That is a terrible thing.
One example is the King James Version of the Bible. Many people grew up with that translation, and they will not change to an easier to read, more up to date version. However, they can't really understand the language of the KJV very well, so they do not read the Bible as they should, so they miss the truths and commands of God's Word. Their tradition leads them to break God's commands, because they do not know God's commands.
Another area is music and worship. People get used to one type of music in worship and one way of worshiping the Lord. They will not accept new styles of music or different types of worship. Because of this, they are limited in their praise and singing to the Lord, but we are commanded in the Bible to do both with all of our hearts. They may be used to only a piano, so they won't accept a guitar and drums. The Bible is full of the use of stringed instruments and drums to praise the Lord. Their tradition leads them to miss following God's commands to the fullest.
I could go on and on, but I hope you get the picture, and I pray that we all will examine our traditions. I pray that we would not allow any traditions to cause us to break God's commands. That is always wrong. God's Word must come first in our faith and practice. We must not base what we believe and practice only on our traditions. They may have been good in the past, but they may have outlived their usefulness, and they may have become a hindrance to keeping God's commands like in Jesus's day.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 16-19.
One example is the King James Version of the Bible. Many people grew up with that translation, and they will not change to an easier to read, more up to date version. However, they can't really understand the language of the KJV very well, so they do not read the Bible as they should, so they miss the truths and commands of God's Word. Their tradition leads them to break God's commands, because they do not know God's commands.
Another area is music and worship. People get used to one type of music in worship and one way of worshiping the Lord. They will not accept new styles of music or different types of worship. Because of this, they are limited in their praise and singing to the Lord, but we are commanded in the Bible to do both with all of our hearts. They may be used to only a piano, so they won't accept a guitar and drums. The Bible is full of the use of stringed instruments and drums to praise the Lord. Their tradition leads them to miss following God's commands to the fullest.
I could go on and on, but I hope you get the picture, and I pray that we all will examine our traditions. I pray that we would not allow any traditions to cause us to break God's commands. That is always wrong. God's Word must come first in our faith and practice. We must not base what we believe and practice only on our traditions. They may have been good in the past, but they may have outlived their usefulness, and they may have become a hindrance to keeping God's commands like in Jesus's day.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 16-19.